When intruders are physically wounded and/or terminated, more "would-be- criminals" will think critically and logically about their actions and consequences therein.

Let's see how the media spins this one for more gun control.

This event is one of the rare ones where a gun in the home plays out to good sense. Statistically, it is not the norm.
30,000 gun deaths in USA each year, most of them suicides,
a child is killed every other day accidentally by another child or by the dead child handling a gun.

The NRA myth says this Los Altos scenario is the norm but that's a lie.

The NRA is opposed to any law that would inspect home arsenals for safe management of the guns and ammo. In other countries such management requirements are the norm: e.g. Switzerland where each home is encouraged to have one gun but must account for the gun and all ammo each year.

Well said, @Maher. To add to your comment about Switzerland, the guns kept in private homes are primarily government issue military rifles and are part of the gear that each member of the military (which is most able-bodied men) is responsible for storing between yearly training sessions. Homicides and gun deaths in Switzerland are extremely rare.

Yes but we are not Switzerland. If you want to live in Switzerland, live in Switzerland.

Is a mug shot of the perp available? Exactly where in Georgia is he from? How did he get to California and how long has he been here?

So ban guns and trains and suicides will disappear.

Did he buy the gun in California or did he bring it from Georgia?

@maher @anke,

The low end estimates of defensive firearms use is around 200,000 times a year - not a trivial number. The high end is over 3 million (probably a gross over estimate). The truth probably lies somewhere in between.

Out of the total number of guns deaths approximately 70% are suicides - perhaps we should address the issue of suicide.

There is no question we can do a better job of reducing gun crime; however, the vast majority of guns laws do absolutely nothing to address the issue, and rather simply harass common law abiding citizens by attempting to impose meaningless restrictions versus targeting the actual cause: criminals and the criminally insane

Let's be clear: There is no gun law in the world that will prevent a determined individual from acquiring a firearm and putting it to nefarious use. Witness the recent mass shooting in Munich Germany where an 18 year old with mental health purchased a modern handgun and several hundred rounds of ammunition on the black market and went on a shooting rampage. For the record Germany has some of the strictest gun control laws in the world

@Steve - Is that, perhaps, why gun deaths and mass shootings are uncommon in Germany?

@Steve, agree 100% about the futility of gun laws. Well said. My point about Switzerland was that the guns people keep in their homes are not for the purpose of self-protection but because it's a requirement.

@Seriously, the reason that countries such as Germany or Switzerland have so much less gun violence is that they have much much less of the unhappiness and anger that make people want to kill each other.

@Seriously: My issue is this... I had nothing to do with San Bernadino or any other shooting, yet you want to pass laws to punish me for it.

I have absolutely nothing against background checks, but the government can't even get that right. The dirt bag in Orlando was investigated by the Feds TWICE in two years and he PASSED a background check. The Navy yard shooter passed FOUR background checks. So yes, seriously? Shouldn't we try to make that work before we pass more things that don't work?

You say we should register ourselves based upon an activity we enjoy. Yet, I'm sure that if anyone suggested registering Korans or Mosques you'd be gravely against that. (I am not advocating that, it is just an example) It was wrong to generalize against Japanese-Americans during the war because of their ethnic background, but it's OK to generalize against millions of gun owners because of the acts of a few criminals.

Finally, I think it's pretty darned easy for those wanting to ban everything because it doesn't affect them. It's pretty easy to call for a ban when you don't have to give anything up. I think it would be different if a ban called for you giving up something you enjoy even though you did nothing wrong because some id**t abused a freedom of this country to do something bad.

Dr. Lott has provided data on the number of times a gun is used for protection. It is far more than the number of children killed. A number which includes teenagers, which likely includes gang related murders.